Yes, it's time to think about next year already.

You can just feel that with Schumacher retiring, this is going to be the start of a new era. Everything is changing.

The driver market has been going crazy. With Schumacher gone, so many top drivers are moving around. Alonso to a down McLaren. Fisichella becomes top dog at Renault. Raikkonen to an uncertain Ferrari.

Some of the key managers and engineers are moving on. Will Brawn be back? Newey to Red Bull. Williams getting Toyota engines, Red Bull dumping Ferrari for Renault engines.

And don't forget about 2007 becoming a closed tire spec year.

Overall, Honda and Toyota will go into the new season relatively stable, could that be an advantage for those two teams.

Honda FTW!!!!

 

I agree completely FC. If the Ferrari team loses its might it will be due to Brawn/Todt/Martinell all leaving which is a distinct possibility. Honda does seem stable and Jens flat out drove his balls off yesterday. At least he said in the post-race interview that he could not have caught the Ferrari had he started further up the grid and second was all he lost (potentially).

 

It should be very exciting, which isn't a word too often assoiated with F1 recently. My only worry is the engine freeze. If it becomes obvious early that Honda for example is down on power and uncompetitive, does it mean they will remain uncompetitive for the next 2 years? On the flip sise, if Ferrari proves to have the best engines, does it mean they dominate for 2 years?

I'm not a fan of that rule.

 

Amen Dom

The engines and tires were two huge places for a team to improve and they are dead next year. The last few years have been so interesting because of the tire war. Coupled with weather and the swing from race to race on engine development you never knew what you'd get. But next year - spec tires and no engine development. I thought we wanted aero to be LESS important...

I think Ferrari the last 3 years illustrates the point. Bridgestone was just dominant for so long - then Michelin caught them - and maybe passed them - making 2004 a very competitive year. Kimi 1 point from the title and even Williams was there until the end. Then 2005 with no more tire changes and Bridgestone never got it straight, effectively opening the door for Renault and Honda to challenge McLaren. Now 2006 and Bridgestone are back and Ferrari take it to Renault but come up short. I can't recall a more interesting 3-year stretch in F1 in decades.

2007+ - if a team isn't up to speed on engine, their chassis/aero better be top notch or they have a LONG 2-3 years ahead of them.

I recognize the desire to curb Engine costs - call it the Toyota rule - but damn this might REALLY suck. If one team really gets it right or someone has a serious problem in the engine area we might have a return to the days of Ferrari/Bridgestone being unbeatable. Once we discover who the new Ferrari/Bridgestone is going to be the drama is gone and we watch race after race domination.

excited - intrigued - and scared to death of what 2007 will bring...

 

I have to read up on this subject of engine freeze before commenting. I don't know precisely what parameters are frozen and which are not. I'm sure there's room for some development or else a team would be frozen out of the race due to a rule and that would not be fair either.

 

i believe the engine freeze is a bad idea. i hope honda has a top level competitive engine or it's going to be a LOOONG bunch of seasons.

well now honda can re-allocate their R&D into chassis and AERO which they desperately need!!

 

I also think the engine freeze is dumb. If massa keeps up the driving and kimi can perform ferrari will dominate the show. Hopefully honda can get some good chassis designers and a better aero package (quite appearant its needed by how bad ferrari was driving past them on the straights this past weekend)